Bon Appetit: Do you ever wonder what a test kitchen cook eats throughout the day and week? Bon Appetit's senior food editor, Dawn Perry, shares what it's like to be a test kitchen cook and how it creates a complicated relationship with food. While most of us are eating the bounties of summer cuisine, she is prepping for the holidays and taste-testing stuffings, Thanksgiving turkeys, soups and party nut mixes.

The Pancake Princess: Who doesn't love samoa Girls Scout cookies? And who doesn't love ice cream? Why not put both of them together? Erika Kwee shares her recipe for vegan samoa ice cream in this blog post. She makes her ice cream from light and full-fat coconut milk, unrefined turbinado sugar or coconut sugar, vanilla extract, sea salt, shredded coconut and vegan shortbread cookie crumbs, creating a chewy, crunchy and smooth ice cream. She then drizzles the frozen treat with caramel sauce and chocolate sauce. It's like an ice cream sundae all in one tub.

Eat-More-Burgers:Red Ox Bar & Grill is a new addition to the Houston restaurant scene, and Russell Weil has the scoop on the Red Ox burger. It's a spicy beef patty with cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, thinly sliced red onions, tomato and pickles on a grilled artisan bun. Unfortunately his sweet potato fries were not as crispy or fried as much as his dining companion's classic French fries were.

Food Chronicles: Alison Cook writes about the Mercedes Mexican Food cafe inside a Texaco station on Canal Street at the corner of Sampson. This hidden gem is run by Mercedes Andrade, a former cook at Irma's. According to Cook, "you'll want to eat a lot," whether it's the red-chile enchilada stuffed with stout picadillo, the Spanish rice and refried beans, or the simple guacamole and chips.